Soft Pretzel Buns and Knots

The final dish
As seen on
Smitten Kitchen
Total Time
2 hours
Prep Time
1 hour 30 minutes
Cook Time
12 to 15 minutes
Rating
0 out of 5 stars
(0)

Ingredients

12-16 servings
  • 1 tablespoon barley malt syrup or dark brown sugar
  • 2 tablespoons lard or softened or melted and cooled unsalted butter
  • 2 tablespoons instant or rapid-rise yeast
  • 2 cups lukewarm water
  • 6 cups (about 30 ounces) all-purpose or bread flour
  • 1 tablespoon plus 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
  • 1/4 cup baking soda (for standard baking soda bath), 1 cup baking soda (for concentrated baking soda bath) or 1/4 cup food-grade lye (for darkest, most authentic finish and flavor)
  • Water
  • 1 large egg (for baking soda methods only)
  • Coarse sea salt or pretzel salt
Kid-FriendlyBakingDairyEggs
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Preparation

Chef’s notes

Soft pretzels are best eaten fresh; they don't store well overnight.
Form pretzels the night before to simply bake the next day.
For a rye pretzel variation, swap up to 1 cup of flour for dark rye.
Use active dry yeast in a 1:
1 exchange by dissolving it in lukewarm water first.
Pretzel salt can be bought from Amazon, King Arthur Flour, or Morton.
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